Barrie Colts1st Barrie Colts – Ryan Suzuki, C, London Jr. Knights
Off the top, we’re clearly assuming that Barrie does not get a commitment from Jack Hughes so they turn to their next best player in London’s Ryan Suzuki. The swift-footed pivot with high-end playmaking abilities would give them a legitimate star prospect who they could build around.

Guelph Storm2nd Guelph Storm – Jack Hughes, C, Toronto Marlboros
The Storm quickly snatch up Hughes, assuming they receive reassurances that he’d come, and add a potential super star pivot. Again, Hughes’ is the true wildcard and will dictate how the entire first round plays out but let’s, for now, assume that he is willing to report to Guelph.

North Bay Battalion3rd North Bay Battalion – Brandon Coe, C, Toronto Young Nationals
The Battalion could go a number of different ways here with Tomasino and Blake Murray on the board, but they opt to go with arguably the best pro prospect in Brandon Coe. The rangy pivot has shown excellent smarts and vision on the rush and while he could bury the biscuit more often, he’s a player who has loads of potential.

Saginaw Spirit4th Saginaw Spirit– Tag Bertuzzi, C/LW, Oakland Jr. Grizzlies
Looking to add some bite to their offence, Tag Bertuzzi would be an excellent selection for the Spirit. When he’s on his game, he’s one of the top 2001-born prospects in the draft. He’s strong and aggressive while executing with good skill.

Niagara IceDogs5th Niagara IceDogs - Philip Tomasino, C, Mississauga Rebels
Tomasino is one player that every OHL team will have high on their list. Book it. He’s a smart attacker who elevates his teammates’ play by pushing the pace and executing with impressive offensive timing.

Ottawa 67s6th Ottawa 67’s – Graeme Clarke, RW, Toronto Marlboros
Fans of the 67’s may be getting tired of us mocking the hometown Clarke to them in the 1st round. However, with the location that Ottawa will be selecting and Clarke being a legitimate Top 10 prospect with elite scoring abilities, it just makes too much sense. If you’re still upset with us, have a look at him scoring this lacrosse style goal last week. You’ll forgive us.

Sudbury Wolves7th Sudbury Wolves - Cody Morgan, C, Toronto Jr. Canadiens
Sudbury is a difficult team to forecast come draft time and that is especially so with so many options in this spot - the feisty Jamieson Rees, sharp shooting Cody Morgan and Blake Murray, who’s likely been watched a ton by Whitby native Barclay Branch and his staff. In the end, we’re carefully slotting Morgan to the Wolves.

Mississauga Steelheads8th Mississauga Steelheads (Compensation Pick) - Blake Murray, C, Whitby Wildcats
We’ve mentioned it before - Mississauga tends to lean towards larger forwards. While they could fancy local winger in Ethan Keppen, it’s Blake Murray who’d be a great value selection with their compensation pick from last season.

Sarnia Sting9th Sarnia Sting – Jamieson Rees, C, Mississauga Reps
Sting GM Nick Sinclair holds his cards close to his chest and while we’d love for them to take a shot at Alex Turcotte, it’s more likely that they add their top ranked Ontario skater since they’re still working on getting 1st round pick Tyler Weiss to report from last season. Rees would be an outstanding get at 9th overall.
Flint Firebirds10th Flint Firebirds – Arthur Kaliyev, LW, Detroit Compuware 16U

While many top American prospects usually waver on their decision between a NCAA and OHL future, Compuware’s Kayilev is all-in when it comes to playing in the Ontario Hockey League. The highly intelligent, big winger owns first round skills and his impact would be immediately felt in the Firebirds lineup.

I do believe the ID's draft high this year. Put your money where your keyboard is and pick him before the LK's do.

Simple from where I come from.

Now some people would be afraid to follow this line of thinking... Oh no, I don't want to draft someone who might not report, the 2 picks next year (or value we would get through trade) would set our rebuild back. But honestly, would it. How many roster spots do you think are wide open for next season? I would bet somewhere between 3 - 5. 2 of which I'm pretty sure will be plugged by whatever OA they can scrounge up for this season to work with Johnny Corneil as the 'Veteran Core of Leadership'. So between 1 and 3 open roster spaces. Which does not assume that some guys that most of us think of as 'on the bubble' don't step up in the off season and get bigger/stronger/better/improve whatever you think their short comings are.

So my 4th line is obviously wide open. Demin would not be my choice to come back, he wasn't bad, just wasn't anything special... Machala looked ok most games, I wouldn't be upset to see him back next season so I slotted him back into the 3rd line.

I had high hopes for Bradey Johnson, with his pedigree, I thought he might be a kid who could score 10 by the end of the season. Hope he comes back to training camp with another couple of inches of height and some more muscle. Would love to see him kick the door down at training camp and grab a roster spot by the throat. And Dame? Just never seemed to find his footing on this team. Wouldn't be upset to see his speed back but I'd rather give a younger player a chance. Smith never really got much of a shake here, hope he comes back ready to compete next season.

Would also be open to reuniting the Young Guns line, maybe as PP2. Or maybe PP1 if Corneil - Jones - Maksimov - Thomas - D-Man don't improve on their PP numbers.

Schaefer - Lochead
Hunter - Ham
MacPherson - Somerville

I really think only Schaefer and Lochead are locks to make this D. Hunter looked good, as did Ham and MacPherson. Not sold for or against with Somerville, just not enough reps to form an intelligent opinion. But no one short of the top guys were standouts for me. Everyone had moments, but none of them stole the show.

Dhillon

Coach Bell rode his prize winning stallion into the ground this season. Dhillon comes back and starts unless by some miracle an NHL team decides they CANNOT live without this kid in their system. I feel Dhillon looked super tired in that last couple of games against Peterborough and at various other times throughout the season. He should have been forced to take about 10 more nights off through the season.

Incze

I'd have liked to see him in about 20 - 24 games. He got 14. And he looked bad in some of them, and good in others. Part of that isn't his fault really. No one is good at being a backup, especially 17 yr old kids. He drew some tough games London Kitchener and Erie later in the season. So, there's no real way of knowing what is had here. Everyone seems determined to give up on this kid who looked so promising 2 years ago before he started becoming an 'Artful Flailing' type of goalie.

So that's a few forward spots left open. The D is pretty much wide open to my way of thinking. I'd like to add at least 1 6ft plus, mean, nasty, physical, defensive defenceman. And room for at least another G to compete and push young Mr Incze...

We have a few kids from last year's draft I'd like to see this training camp plus like 12 picks in this priority selection draft... Minimum 4 picks from the U18 draft ( more if we select a G if I understand the rules of it ), and hopefully 2 import selections. So there is a derth of talented kids competing for not a lot of spots. So if Hughes is available at 5... I say take a shot at a Home Run pick, and try like hell to convince him to come to the 'O' ...

Just a thought from someone with WAY too much time, and coffee on his hands...